Doesn’t the experimenter have a hypothesis before doing any experimenting? A well designed experiment will then test the hypothesis.
I’m not addressing the use of “hypothesis” over “experiment”, but the thought process of productive science.
Something like:
Casual observation
Notice something incomprehensible
Search for a Why, especially one with predictive power
Consult an authority (usually), like Dad or a book
Test their theories with informal experiment
If received wisdom fails, look and think
Hypothesis!
Then test through experimentation.